Whether or not you are a regular practitioner of Yoga, knowing basic stretching poses is a must as a human with an aging body. It is simply unhealthy to avoid intimate stretching and breathing daily. As a runner, I was taught and have fallen in love with a few poses for my back and knees that I swear by today. Moreover, practices of the body that teach or remind the mind of sensitivity and healing processes (mind-body) make us better humans.

These visual cards below will help you memorize some of the most common basic poses. As you learn more poses, this sort of symbolic visual modeling will become more and more useful. Don't forget to breathe into the stomach first, up through the lungs, exhale the lungs all the way through, then deeply deflate the stomach, and repeat. For detailed instructions, visit the Pain Management and Injury Relief Medical Center.